It's been a good year for Laura Dern. The beloved and long running actresses has had a variety of high profile projects released in the past 12 months, including her role in the Twin Peaks revival, her Emmy nominated performance in HBO's Big Little Lies, and a quick stint on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. But even more exciting than those three small screen adventures is her upcoming role in Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Dern will be playing newcomer Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, who will reportedly have quite a few scenes with General Leia. And she recently revealed why she nearly cried when filming her scenes in the upcoming sequel.
I will tell you this. To be an actor my whole life, but first a kid who loved movies. And walk on a set, costume's ready, you're mic'd, you're learning your lines, the camera is rolling. You open your eyes to do your scene like any other workday... and it's Star Wars?! I could cry. Oh my god, it's R2-D2. I thought I was going to pass out. It's the greatest thing that ever happened to me.
Now this it touching. In her recent appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Laura Dern revealed how much movies meant to her from a young age. And since she grew up with two actor parents, it certainly makes sense. Like so many of us, Star Wars was a staple of her childhood, which is why she was so emotional when filming scenes as Admiral Holdo.
This is not the first funny and somewhat touching story to come out of Laura Dern's time on the set of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It was recently revealed that Dern was making the sound affects for her blaster during an action sequence, saying noises like "pew pew" during takes for the film. This isn't the first time an actor has accidentally made his own sound affects, as Hayden Christiansen apparently made lightsaber noises while filming his battles in the prequel trilogy.
While details about what to expect from Admiral Holdo are few and far between, it's nice to hear about Laura Dern's positive experience on her first Star Wars set. The franchise as a whole is very intense about its security protocols, and a very small amount of information has been released regarding the overall plot of The Last Jedi.
That being said, I'm hoping that a new trailer hits soon, including the first footage of Laura Dern and Benicio Del Toro in action. Their characters have been perhaps the most mysterious in the marketing campaign thus far, and fans are dying to understand more about the newcomers to the galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will arrive in theaters on December 15, 2017. In the meantime, check out our 2017 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
